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May-June 2017
The BenedictionSt. Benedict’s Episcopal Church, Los Osos, CaliforniaThe Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall RectorThe Rev. M.E. Pratt-Horsley Rector EmeritusThe Rev. Donna Ross Associate PriestThe Rev. Barry Turner Associate PriestThe Rev. Faye HoganAssociate PriestThe Rev. Sharon G. Dalrymple DeaconThe Parish Council Anne Kanter, Sr. WardenRod Morse, Jr. WardenPamela Bleisch StrawnLisa GonzalezEsta KandarianFrancis RivinusBarbara SchippersKathie WestBenediction Publisher: The Rev. Dr. Caroline J. A. HallBenediction Editor: Kit Gould, [email protected] Services The first Sunday of each month:10:30 am One service of Holy
Communion with music
All other Sundays:8:00 am Holy Communion
with inclusive language10:30 am Holy Communion
with musicRefreshments and fellowship follow each service.
Church: 2220 Snowy Egret LaneLos Osos, CA 93402
Mailing: PO Box 6877Los Osos, CA 93412
(805) [email protected]@StBens_LosOsos
Dear Friends: What a glorious celebration of Easter we had, once again. I am so grateful to be able to share these special times with such a generous, talented and spiritual bunch. And now we enter the fifty days that lead us to Pentecost. Fifty days when we follow along as the disciples try to understand the meaning of the res-urrection – who is this Christ who mysteriously appears and just as mysteriously disappears?
And of course, we can see the parallels in our own lives with the God who some-times seems so close and other times so far; some days we turn to prayer, or go to church and it’s just going through the motions, but at other times God is so close you could reach out and touch her/him.
And then we move into Pentecost and now the mission of God is being worked out, not through Jesus, not even through the resurrected Jesus but by the Spirit of God moving in the lives of God’s people, the church. You and me. Just as in the ancient time of the Big Bang, the Spirit hovered over the void and brought forth the beginning of creation which grew and grew and grew, so the Spirit of God anointed the disciples and the Body of Christ grew and grew and grew…
…and came to Los Osos and here we settled and here God settled with us. As the prologue to John’s gospel says, God pitched her tent and dwelt among us.
And so here and now we get to live out the mission of God in this place. We do that through the Abundance Shop, through our care for each other and through be-ing “God with flesh on” in our everyday lives.
In this, our thirtieth anniversary year, we are challenged to live out the gospel in new and different ways. This is a year for us to pause and reflect on exactly who God intended St. Benedict’s to be when the Spirit planted us here and who God intends St. Benedict’s to be today and in the next few years. It is time for us to review our core values, recommit to our vision and imagine what God can do through and with us.
I am grateful to be on this exciting journey of discernment with y’all.
BlessingsCaro+
Rev. Caroline J. A. Hall
May-June 2017Mission and Ministry Plan For many years the Parish Council has operated with a one year plan. Now it’s time for us to create a five year mission and ministry plan to guide our thinking and planning. The Parish Council has met with Canon Brian Nordwick from the diocese to discuss this, and is looking for your input. This plan will be based on our Mis-sion statement and contain a statement of our core values, three or four major objectives for living out those values and then some concrete goals which we can aim towards. This plan will dovetail with the Facilities Vi-sion plan we recently completed with the help of Adrienne Harris.Together we are discerning what God is doing in our midst and in our community and how the Holy Spirit is encouraging us to participate in that work. There will be a Parish Meeting on Sunday June 4th during our monthly potluck so that everyone who wants to can give their input.
Hope’s Village For many years we have wondered what God has in mind for the two acres that we currently have sown with barley. We have pondered a school, a retreat center or some kind of housing. Recently we talked with People’s Self-Help Housing about their building senior housing on it, but it does not meet the criteria for their funding. So now the Parish Council is talking with Hope’s Village about the possibility of it being used for a small village of tiny houses (like the one that JW used to have).If this were to happen, there would be a clear legal agreement between ourselves and Hopes Village and they would have managers on site all the time so that any problems with or between residents could be resolved very quickly. In many ways this is very congruent with our mission to serve God in all persons and so in the next few months we will be contin-uing to explore this as a possibility. If it seems feasible for both parties, we will call a parish meeting so everyone can learn more about it and give their input.
Stations of the Cosmic Christ Many of you will have heard of theologian Matthew Fox who developed Creation Theology with its idea of origi-nal blessing instead of original sin. Now he has worked with two artists to develop “Stations of the Cosmic Christ” which invite us, like the Stations of the Cross, to go deeper into the mystery which is the Christ. In these 16 stations, we are invited to a mini walking pilgrimage in which we meditate on the seven “I am” statements that Jesus makes, and the nine events in the life of Jesus that are cosmic based including the Nativity, Baptism, and the Transfiguration.Our Earthcare group has arranged to bring the Stations of the Cosmic Christ to St Benedict’s in October and they will be here through Christmas. In addition, Matthew Fox will be with us the first weekend in De-cember. He will present workshops on Friday and Satur-day and then preach on Sunday morning. These talks will be open to the public. Mark your calendar now for this extraordinary opportunity.
May-June 201730 Year Jubilee
Yes, St Benedict’s is really thirty years old! To celebrate we have three events lined up: The Bishop will be here on Thursday June 8 for a special service and to bless the Great Room; There will be a big party on October (this will replace our usual Gratitude Dinner) and then Matthew Fox will be here in December. If you have other events you would like to suggest or organize please talk to Caro+ or Senior Warden, Ann Kanter.
Community Dinners Starting May 1, St Benedict’s Homeless Outreach group will be working with other groups and congregations to provide a free community dinner in Los Osos. This is intended to provide support for those who are living on the edge, as well as being a place to grow community. Morro Bay has been providing a community dinner for a couple of years and it has become very popular, not only as a place to get a free meal, but also as a place to find out about re-sources available in the community.During May and June dinner will be available on the 1st and 3rd Monday at 5pm at Trinity Methodist. Hopefully, more groups will come forward to provide food and it will become a weekly event. St. Benedict’s is committed to providing a hot meal once every two months. We are cooking for 40 on May 1, our next date will be July 3rd. Ask Barbara Hirahara to see how you can help.
Are You called to Special Ministry? We are all called to minister God’s love in the places our life takes us, whether at work, in our family life, at church or on the golf course. One of the things that makes St Benedict’s special is the contribution that each one of us makes whether serving in the Abundance Shop, providing food for Prado or the Community Dinner, or reading a lesson in church. The Episcopal Church provides for a number of licensed lay ministers who have particular callings within the faith community. These include lay preacher, healing minister, Eucharistic minister, and Eucharistic Visitor among others. We have several licensed Eucharistic Ministers who represent the people of God at the Eu-charistic table and help with our weekly celebration, and we have one licensed lay preacher, Brian Spolarich, who will be preaching next on May 14.If you would like to know more about licensed lay ministry there are more details on the diocesan website www.realepsicopal.org (navigate to Resources then Commission on Ministry and scroll down). A special Dis-cernment Day will be held in Salinas on May 13 to help you discern whether God might be calling you to li-censed ministry.In addition, the deanery is exploring providing training for Stephen Ministers. Stephen Ministers assist in pas-toral care by walking alongside people who are experiencing challenging life situations such as bereavement or illness, usually meeting with them weekly. They are not only well trained but carefully supervised. The training is 50 hours and supervision usually happen once a month. If the Holy Spirit is interesting you in any of these opportunities, please contact Caro+
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you to everyone who made Holy Week and Easter such a meaningful and spiritually inspiring celebration this year. A tremendous amount of work goes into it. Thank you to Stef who produced all the service booklets, made sure that there were enough readers, ushers etc. for every service and kept the Rector on her toes; Thank you to Sarah who anticipated every need for cloths, bowls, candles etc. and then rushed out at the last minute when we dis-
May-June 2017covered that our reading lights and flashlights had all disappeared just before the Vigil; Thank you to John and all our musicians for their inspired ministry which deeps and expands our worship; and thank you to everyone who read, ushered, preached, held candles, brought the fire pit, unlocked the church and locked it again, supplied food and gave hospitality. Thank you to everyone who came and worshipped! It would all be pointless without you.
Deacon Dispatch Rev. Sharon DalrympleEaster is most definitely a time of rebirth for all creation. Spring is sprung all around us, and like new buds opening on trees and little plants breaking through the rich dirt, our hearts are also awakened and born again with the joy of our Lord’s resurrection. Jesus said He would make all things new, and right now, there is that “newness” in the air!I think with this sense of rebirth and renewal, this is also a time for looking ahead toward the future. You have heard it said: “Today is the first day of the rest of your life”.I think that applies not only to each of us, but it also applies to our church home. What is on the horizon for St. Ben’s?While not out of the woods financially, we have made a huge dent in our loan and have been receiving some wonder-ful donations toward the “dreaded sprinkler system”. We can finally stop and smell the roses of these incredible ac-complishments. It has been a long time coming, but we can afford to take a breath and look to continue our focus outward. While we can truly pause to enjoy that delicious smell of the roses, it is no time to lie down in the ham-mock for a long nap. God is always standing in front of us, beckoning us onward. The question is where to?Where to you see yourself headed? What do you see as God’s call for you and St. Ben’s? When you have that cup of coffee (or tea) in the morning, I ask you to spend some time meditating on what you would like to see St. Ben’s do-ing in our community and asking yourself what part you see yourself playing in getting to those goals.Life is short, so let’s live it to the max! I miss y’all already. Keep the home fire burnings and take good care, my friends!
Deacon Intern Starting in July, Jim Arnold will be joining us as a deacon-in-training. Jim is a member of St Peters with a special heart for prison ministry. During his time with us he is expected to learn community organizing skills, so he will be working on homeless outreach as well as getting to know us better and serving in the parish. He only has 8 hours per week and a lot to pack in so our job will be to support his learning process through prayer and through conversation with him.Jim will need a parish committee – about four people - to meet monthly and support him in his work here. Please let Caro+ know of you are interested.
New Doors! We are getting new doors for the sanctuary and the bathroom hallway. The ones we have now do not meet current code requirements. The new ones will look similar but will have bars for opening, not handles. Expect to see our friendly contractor, Aaron, replacing doors and also completing some painting in the hallway in the next few weeks. This is part of the county’s requirements for finishing the Great Room project.
May-June 2017Prado DonationsAlice WelchertEven as St. Benedict's expands our outreach to our Los Osos neighbors by hosting Community Dinners, we contin-ue our ministry of many years to the Prado Day Center. I have noticed, over the last several months, that donations of food items have decreased. I suspect that placing the donation boxes behind the back pew literally keeps the needs of Prado clients from being front and center. I agree with Caro+ that it will be a good thing to give Prado higher visibility. On "Potluck and Prado" Sundays, one of the boxes will be in the center of our worship space as a reminder of the mandate to share our abundance with others. I will also make periodic reminder announcements.
YES!Following are examples of the types of items the Day Center can use (breakfast foods are especially needed):Cold cerealInstant hot cerealPeanut butterJamCoffee/teaInstant hot chocolateCreamer/sugar/sugar substituteBoxed almond/soy/rice milkJuice
Canned fruitPaper bowls/plates/cups/utensils/napkinsReady-to-serve canned goodsDog and cat foodsoaps/shampoos from hotelstoothbrushestooth pasterazors
feminine hygiene itemsDiapersSocks (women's as well as men's)Towels and wash clothes in good conditionPaper towelsLaundry soapBackpacks in good condition
NO!Uncooked pasta, rice, grains, beans, Top Ramen etc. (Prado doesn't have the facilities to use these and they attract the little church mice)Perishable items -- e.g. fresh fruit, bread, bagels. These can rot or turn moldy as I take donations to Prado about once a month.
Talk by Ken Wilber: Thought As PassionRev. Barry Turner+ Ken Wilber will present a workshop on Saturday, June 3; 10 am to 2 pm at St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church.Ken Wilber is widely regarded as the most comprehensive and passionate philosopher of our times. His life long body of work, including 19 books in more than 30 languages, brings together science and religion, philosophy, art, culture, East and West, and places them within the all encompassing perspective of evolution. He aims to introduce authentic mystic spirituality into Western culture, drawing from the major world spiritual traditions. Seeking an encyclopedic integral perspective, he draws together myriad diverse and often competing strands of the natural and social sciences, philosophy, religion and spirituality into a vi-sionary worldview.For those who have an interest in “big picture” ideas, Ken Wilber is one of most com-pelling resources today. His work is of such volume and depth that it is difficult for many to access but it has none the less gathered world wide fascination and controversy. My introduction to Ken Wilber comes through my work in the Living School at the Commu-nity for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, NM, reading his writings and about him for several years. I’ll enjoy passing on to you a partial glimpse of what he has to offer and to ask, how may Christians find him a guide for a spirituality that can speak to a shat-tered modern world?Please RSVP to [email protected] if you plan to attend. There is no charge but we’ll share a potluck lunch. If you would like to read one of Ken Wilber’s books in preparation, a good first read is his popular volume, A Brief History of Everything, Shambhala, 1996.
May-June 2017Canterbury San Luis Obispo Needs Your Support! We have one month left in our checking account! The Episcopal Campus Ministry at Cal Poly & Cuesta College (SLO Canterbury / The Shire) has been engaged in great work this academ-ic year through our Chaplain, Berkeley Johnson. In addition to his on-campus work, we have students now attending church and meet-ing on a regular basis, a first in the ten years of SLO Canterbury! Our ministry has grown also to include Berkeley serving as chaplain of the Cal Poly Men’s Soccer Team, leading memorial services for families and the University when student deaths have occurred, and being a pastoral support and Episcopal witness to the Multicultural, Pride, and Gender Equity Centers at Cal Poly.
Additionally, St Stephen’s has benefited from Berkeley’s connection with staff from Cal Poly, and the Adult Education program there has in-cluded presentations from teaching and support staff on three occasions. Through this work, we are extending the connections between students, campus, and our faith communities. We will expand and deepen this connection to other churches in the deanery in the coming year. Our board has also grown this year with new
members from throughout the deanery, bringing new skills, vision, and gifts.This great work needs your prayers and your financial support. Our annual budget to pay our Chaplain and support this ministry is only $40,000/year, of which 75% is provided through generous contribu-tions from individual donors and congregations in the SLO deanery and beyond. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” Canterbury is a “seed ministry”, one that is planting seeds of faith and fellowship that touches not only our churches, but touches the lives of young people who are hungry to hear and share the Good News that we have encountered in the risen Christ. We need your financial support to continue this important work with the students and young people among us.You can send us your tax-deductible donation right now in the following ways:
• Send a check to SLO Canterbury, 1344 Nipomo Street, SLO 93401• Use PayPal: www.paypal.me/CanterburySLO
Whatever way you choose to support SLO Canterbury, we appreciate it. Campus ministry reaches well beyond the campus, and enriches us all.Brian Spolarich, Board President, St Benedict’sFr. Ian M. Delinger, Board Member, St. Stephen’s
St. Benedict's Rev. Caroline Hall was among the speakers at a town hall April 6 to address how faith and other communi-
ties can be an ally to immigrants facing crisis in our area. About 400 people attended the meeting at Pacheco School in San Luis Obispo, sponsored by Womens' March SLO and
People of Faith For Justice.
Chaplain Berkeley Johnson (right) with stu-dents at Cal Poly Open House, 2017.
May-June 2017
Hollister Institute: Centering PrayerThursday May 11, 18, and 25th, 10amThis three week class will encourage you to engage with Centering Prayer, a simple form of contem-plative meditation. Each class will include time to learn about Centering Prayer from one of the great teachers, Thomas Keating, and readings from Cynthia Bourgeault’s book, “Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening” as well as plenty of time for sitting in prayer together. Led by Caro+
Hollister Institute: A Thinking Person’s Guide to the Bible Thursdays in June, 7pmIn this five week class we will cover the background and context of all the major books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. If you have ever wished that you knew more about what was going on for the people we hear about or hear from on Sunday morn-ings, this is the class for you. The first three classes will focus on the Old Testament and the last two on the New. No reading is required but you may enjoy “Reading the Bible Again for the First Time” by Marcus Borg. Led by Caro+
Upcoming Events Showing of Awake! A dream from Standing Rock, May 4, 10am and 7pmEarthcare presents a brand new movie which focuses on the resistance of the Sioux tribe at Standing Rock. They captured world attention through their peaceful resistance against the oil pipeline. Awake, A Dream from Standing Rock, captures the story of Native-led defiance that may have forever changed how we fight for clean water, our en-vironment and the future of our planet.Thursday May 4: Two showings! 10am and 7pm. 84 minutes. Bring your own popcorn.
Ken Wilber: Thought As Passion, Saturday June 3, 10 am to 2 pm(See article in this issue of the Benediction for details)RSVP to [email protected] if you plan to attend. There is no charge but we’ll share a potluck lunch.
Parish Meeting, Sunday June 4th
The Benediction St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church2220 Snowy Egret LaneLos Osos, CA 93412
